US Army unveils truck powered by fuel cell
Date: 06-Mar-03
Country: USA
The vehicle is tractor trailer containing a methanol-powered fuel cell that powers on-board electronics as well as auxiliary items such as computers, lights and satellite dishes, preventing the need for the truck to idle.
On average, heavy trucks idle 20 to 40 percent of the time, using one to two gallons of fuel an hour, the Army said in a statement. A single idling vehicle can easily consume more than 2,000 gallons of fuel in a year.
The savings for using fuel cells could be dramatic. The Army said it spends nearly $600 a gallon to transport fuel to the battlefield.
But the industry would first have to hurdle the current cost of fuel cell production. Stationary fuel cells cost $4,500 per kilowatts (kw) versus $800 to $1,500 per kw for diesel generators.
The army truck's five kw fuel cell, built by Ballard Power Systems (BLDP.O) (BLD.TO), provides about amount of power used by five average homes. A Ballard spokeswoman would not say how much the fuel cell system cost to build, but said costs would fall if the systems went into mass production.
"This vehicle is going to be road tested and they are hoping to adapt it to future military needs," said an official representing the government at an automobile engineers conference in Detroit.
The Army said it will spend $10 million this fiscal year on fuel cell research, development and testing. Part of the research focuses on advancing fuel cell propulsion to meet military demands.
Fuel cells combine hydrogen with oxygen to create electricity leaving water as a byproduct. Hydrogen in nature is usually bonded to carbon, as in fossil fuels, such as methanol, or to oxygen, such as in water. The supply of hydrogen for fuel cells can be extracted from fossil fuels or from water using alternative energies.